


the Shannon Conspiracy

by dsa_archivist



Category: due South
Genre: M/M, Round Robin, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-06-06
Updated: 2000-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-10 05:40:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11121033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: By Corrine, silvina, Acer canadensis, and Shannon McKinnon. Just an excuse for some sap.





	the Shannon Conspiracy

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

Shannon Conspiracy

Standard Disclaimer. All toys will be returned to the toybox when we're done playing. Please send comments, questions, compliments, and otters to,, or, or visit http://www.members.xoom.com/dueSou, http://www.learnlink.emory.edu/~clyoung/homefolder/DueSouthStuff/slashwelcome.htm, http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Land/4191/ or http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Lot/7034/cc_main.htm. 

# The Shannon Conspiracy

Wanna hear a secret?

Yeah, yeah. I know. I mean geez, I know about keeping secrets, I'm a cop. But I gotta tell someone and you're not  
exactly gonna go and tell anybody. I figure it's safe to tell you. (looks around cautiously) Here it is. Benton Fraser likes to  
cuddle.

[silence]

See? I shocked you.

[gulp. Not at all.]

Sure. That's why you haven't closed your mouth yet.

[Oh sorry.]

S'alright. I understand. I was surprised too.

[Really? Tell me more.]

It's a long story. You sure you wanna here it?

[Oh yes. I'm sure.]  
. . . .  
Ray pulled the final sheet out of the typewriter, added it to the stack on the desk beside him, and stuck it into a manila  
folder with a dramatic flourish. Finished at last. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, rolling tired shoulders and stiff  
neck in satisfaction.

He cut his stretch short when he caught sight of the clock on the precinct wall. Twenty after six; if he wasn't at the  
Consulate by six-fifteen, Fraser started walking home. Jumping out of his chair and banging a knee on the desk in the  
process, he grabbed his jacket, handed off the folder to Elaine, and was gone.

Rain met him at the door, and he groaned. The sky had been threatening when he'd come back from lunch, and was now  
proving that the threat hadn't been idle. He was drenched by the time he reached the car, and when he scowled out  
through the windshield at the weather, it laughed at him, a loud, bass rumble.

As he'd feared, the Consulate was deserted by the time he arrived, the windows dark and shuttered. Hoping that Ben had had the sense to wait in the lobby, he parked and got out, but the door was locked.

Shaking off the water that was beginning to run down his collar, Ray got back in the car and began to follow the route he  
knew Ben took when he walked. It was still technically summer, and the hour wasn't that late, but the heavy clouds made  
the evening almost dark. He scanned the sidewalks anxiously, hoping for a glimpse of soggy red serge. He smiled  
involuntarily, wondering if the tunic ever actually got wet.

He had driven almost two blocks when he spotted it, beneath the awning of a boarded-up music store. Pulling over to the  
curb, he jumped out, leaving the headlights on and the windshield wipers going. "Hey, Benny!" he shouted over the noise  
of the downpour.

The figure stopped and turned around. "Ray!"

Joining him under the shelter of the yellow-striped awning, Ray put a hand on a broad red shoulder, finding with a mixture  
of concern and perverse pleasure that it was indeed soaked through. "Hey. How come you didn't wait for me at the  
Consulate?"

"I assumed you were working late."

"Yeah, well, I've got two jobs, you know. The Mountie pneumonia patrol doesn't pay much, but the benefits are great."  
Ben smiled, twinkling blue eyes matching the sparkle of raindrops in his hair. With a quick check up and down the street,  
he drew him into warm, wet arms, and they kissed.  
. .. . . . .  
The rain felt wonderful against his flushed skin, flushed because obviously, someone had been taking lessons in how to  
make love in a simple kiss.

Ben pulled away enough to speak. "You're getting wet, Ray."

It took him a moment to regain the power of speech, but he wasn't capable of more than one syllable. "So?"

Ben laughed, dropping several more light kisses to his mouth, one to his nose and one to his forehead. "Ray, what's that music?"

"That? That's the ice cream truck. They usually don't come to this side of town." One look at his partner and best friend's face, and he had an idea. "Come on, Benny. Let's go."

"Go where?"

Ray pulled him to the ice cream truck. "What do you want, Benny? My treat."

"Hmm. I think I'd like the peach."

"I'll take the strawberry." He paid for the ice cream and grabbed several napkins. Fraser's smile was more than worth the price. "Let's go before the ice cream gets wet."

"All right. Hey Ray, I'll race you!"

Ray laughed. It was a rare moment when his lover allowed himself to act like a child and play. He chased him back to the apartment, knowing that Benny was allowing him to keep the race close. As soon as the door closed Ben pulled him close, continuing the kiss from before.

"Come on, let's get you out of that and into a warm shower."

"Ray, what about the ice cream?"

"We can put it in the freezer so it doesn't melt. I feel like conserving some water!"  
__________________________________________________________________

They left the shower and moved the sofa so it faced the opened window. Cuddling up under a dark green blanket, they listened to the rain and ate their ice cream, content in the other's company and closeness.  
. . . . . . . .  
The wind changed direction suddenly, sending drops of water in through the open window.

"Benny, we're getting wet!"

Ben moved closer and laid his head on Ray's shoulder."Yes."

"Shouldn't we close the window?"

"No."

Ray sighed started to argue. Ben quickly scooped up some of his ice cream and placed the spoon in Ray's mouth."How does that taste, Ray?"

Ray smiled at him."Sweet and creamy, Benny. Want to try mine?"

"Yes, please."

Ray spooned a large portion of ice cream from his cup and placed it into his own mouth, then leaned back against the cushion and smiled at Ben invitingly.

Ben leaned forward and kissed Ray, slipping his tongue inside Ray's mouth, enjoying the taste of the ice cream almost as much as the taste of Ray.

Finally he pulled away, smiling.

"You like that, Benny?"

"Yes, Ray. It was very smooth and delicious."

The wind picked up again, spraying the men with some more rainwater. Ray jumped up."That's it, Benny! We're closing that window!"

"Ray, we don't-"Ben broke off with a sneeze.

Ray slammed the window closed and sat back down next to his lover. "Bless you, Benny.You okay?"He asked.

"Yes, Ray. I'm fine."

"You sound like you're getting a cold."Ray said, a note of concern creeping into his voice.

"Ray, I do not have a cold."Ben sounded amused.

Ray reached out and felt Ben's forehead."Well, you don't have a fever."

"No, Ray."

Ray took Ben's cup of ice cream out of his hands, then spooned up some of the treat and held it out to Benny with a smile."Come on Benny, eat up.You know what they say: 'Feed a cold, starve a fever.'"

"Ray, I told you..."

"This is preventative medicine, Benny."

"Oh."Ben dutifully ate the offered ice cream.

Ray smiled at Benny and brushed the raindrops from his face.

"You know, Benny, we'd better keep you nice and warm. It could be dangerous for you to get a chill right now."

"I happen to know an excellent way to keep warm, Ray. But as I recall, you have rejected this idea in the past."

"What idea is that, Benny?"

"Shared body heat."The smile on Ben's face made Ray's heartbeat do funny things.

"Well, I'm more open to that idea now, Benny."

Grabbing the blanket, Ray draped it over both of them, then laid Benny down on the couch, covering Ben's body with his own."Is this what you had in mind, Benny?"He asked.

"Almost.Just one thing is missing."

Ben drew Ray into a kiss, and two cups of ice cream fell to the floor, unnoticed.  
. .. . . . ..  
Unnoticed, that was, by the blue-eyed Mountie and the green-eyed Chicago cop.

Dieffenbaker lay on his customary rug, head on paws, and waited. When the vibrations he felt from the cot bouncing slightly on the floor told him that his pack mates were occupied, he crossed the room.

Nonchalantly taking first one neglected cup of ice cream, and then the other, he settled down for a little treat of his own. Heaving himself in what is a canine equivalent of a sigh, he enjoyed his stolen treat.


End file.
